by John Walker
“I’m sure I’ll get more out of you later,” Desmond replied.“I’m a reader. Love classics. The fact we’ve got the Library of Congress loaded onto the computers here makes me very happy. That’s how I unwind. Grab something I haven’t read yet and lose myself for a while. I always sleep best after I’ve devoured a couple chapters.”
“You sure that’s not because they’re boring?” Cassie smiled to show the question was a joke.“That you’re reading stuffy material?”
Desmond chuckled.“Pretty sure. I’ll let you know the next time I settle down for a shift.” He paused at a door.“This is engineering. Nathaniel’s a good man, but know he can be… stubborn. Good luck with the shields and be sure to get some rest before we arrive. You’re going to want to be at your best during whatever happens.”
“One more thing…” Cassie took him a few steps away, lowering her voice.“It involves protocol. I don’t want there to be any confusion about my presence aboard your ship. I recognize I’m a civilian but until otherwise stated, I am referring to you as my direct superior. I’ll do my best to speak appropriately with‘sir’ and all that but do forgive me if I slip.”
“Admiral Reach warned me about the AIA,” Desmond replied.“He told me you folks like to take operational command on occasion. I’m glad to hear you haven’t been given such an order. I’m not worried about you, Agent Alexander. So far, you seem to be in this for the right reasons and you’ve been nothing but honest and helpful. Thanks for the quick talk.”
“See you back on the bridge later then,” Cassie called after him as he walked away. He waved and she took a quick breath before turning back to Engineering. She tapped the panel and opened the door, stepping into a noisy technological wonderland she had only read about prior to boarding the ship.
Panels lined the walls and several small maintenance corridors led off to different parts of the ship for fine, manual work. Much of the Gnosis could be repaired right from the center of engineering Cassie was standing in. The automated systems were incredible but occasionally, people needed to be involved. They could make their way to any part of the ship from there.
When she first saw how much access those tunnels had, the security part of her became nervous. If unauthorized personnel got in there, they could access any part of the ship. They got around it with DNA coding. If someone entered a section, doors would close trapping them inside.
These sensors were not linked to the central computer and so could not be hacked without getting into one of the tunnels. Even then, by the time the person got in there and started their mischief, they’d already be caught. It sounded foolproof but when they had time, Cassie intended to see about bolstering the security even more.
Nathaniel Webber approached her, all smiles. He didn’t seem particularly pleased to see her despite the outward expression. She got the impression he felt her contribution would be unneeded and maybe he was right. One of the most important lessons she learned with the AIA was to never believe she was the sole person who could handle a problem.
Two sets of eyes were always better than one when it came to a problem after all. She hoped to impart this to the stubborn engineer.
“Welcome,” Nathaniel said.“This is where the magic happens. I’ll be honest and frank, Miss Alexander. I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do down here that I haven’t already been able to accomplish with my own people.”
Miss again. I must look like a child or something. Cassie put on a smile to mask her annoyance.“I’m hoping I can offer some inspiration more than anything. I’ve brought some data I’d like to share and compare with our current setup. With any luck, the two of us can determine whether it’s useful and can be implemented or if it’s incompatible.”
“I see.” Nathaniel narrowed his eyes.“This is the frequency modifications discussed during the briefing, right?”
Cassie nodded.“Exactly. That’s how the enemy works their defenses.”
“I’ve already thought about it.” Nathaniel led her over to his terminal and tapped at the screen. He brought up the shield array system.“One of the early problems we managed to overcome with this ship involved evenly distributing power to all systems during heavy usage. Combat situations are the worst.
“When we’re powering the engines for maneuverability, weapons, shieldsand maintaining life support, we’re taxing the generators.” Nathaniel changed the screen to show the power relays.“Allowing the shields to cycle would essentially be like rebooting them over and over again, which would put a heavier draw on power.”
Cassie scrutinized his screen for several moments before pulling out her tablet and tapping away. The problem he spoke of had been addressed by the aliens but it may have been by design. Still, the way he described the act sounded terribly inefficient and certainly something they should have been able to account for.
The shield system on the Gnosis was built like a brick wall. The idea was to harden it so much it would deflect mass driver weapons easily and energy weapons would simply not be powerful enough to punch through. This was an old way of thinking. As she read through the way the enemy shields worked, she noted the key difference.
They enabled their defenses to be flexible. Their shields reacted to attacks rather than just sat there waiting for one. An energy blast would be absorbed and mass drivers would be stopped though perhaps not as efficiently. That was their primary weakness. Combining their method and the way the Gnosis currently operated would be the best of both worlds.
Cassie showed Nathaniel her tablet and explained what she saw, inviting him to educate her. By deferring to his expertise, she felt him coming around. His standoffish first impression might’ve been all stubbornness or maybe he worried she’d try to pull rank. Whatever problem he had with her to begin with melted away the deeper they delved into the alien technology.
“The problem I see,” Cassie said,“is our focus on the energy wall versus a fluid deflection.”
“Altering our system won’t be simple,” Nathaniel replied.“But it can be done without a complete overhaul. It comes down to modifying the emitters and how they regulate the energy before creating the field. Unfortunately, we can’t make this happen while in hyperspace because we can’t properly test it. Nor can we do it when we arrive‘causewe’ll likely need the shields up.”
Cassie nodded.“Major system changes like this wouldn’t work in the field without an absolute necessity. However, there’s a minor change I’d like you to consider in regards to their sphere weapon. As you know, it nudged the Gnosis even at range. I have two proposals but one of them isn’t as practical.”
“Go ahead.”
“On one hand, Lieutenant Gold discovered the energy reading and the pilot got the ship out of range quickly. If we’re going to go with a retreat action, then we need a quicker tie-in with engineering so we can divert more power to the engines. An overdrive if you will. That should give us the boost we need to avoid any damage at all.”
“Could work, yes. Though if I know the captain, he won’t want to withdraw next time. What’s your other thought?”
“We can attempt to match the frequency with our shields to do what they did while avoiding damage.”
Nathaniel shook his head.“Too risky. Without the ability to test, if we failed, we’d take the full brunt. I have a third option but it involves some of your fancy applications.”
“Oh?”
“You cracked their computer code so you understand how their security works. If you prepare ahead of time, you might be able to jam their system and delay the release of the weapon.” Nathaniel brought up a simulation and showed how such a thing might work.“You could do anything from prevent the attack to destroying their reactor.”
Cassie really looked at his proposal, considering how best to go about it. Sending a message to the ship telling it to delay release would definitely send a power surge throughout the system. Depending on their safety protocols, it would likely only short out some of their panels but the result wo
uld come down to the weapon not discharging.
“I’ll need to play around with it but I’ve got the data necessary in my computer.” Cassie frowned in thought.“Yes, that’s doable.”
“While you take care of that, I’ll see what can be done to tweak our shields without compromising functionality. At least this time, we’ll have to go with what we’ve got. If only we had a little more time…”
Cassie nodded.“We can’t afford delays. It may already be too late. Depending on what opposition the enemy has uncovered, of course.”
Nathaniel turned back to his terminal.“All we can do is be ready this time and the next. Good luck, Miss Alexander. I look forward to working with you more.”
As she left engineering, Cassie felt good about the contacts she was making with the different department heads on the ship. Commander Bowman seemed okay as did Lieutenant Gold. Winning over Nathaniel helped a lot and she only had a couple more to go. Undoubtedly, she’d have her chance to talk to them before the first mission concluded.
But just then, she needed to work on the jamming application. She might not get the rest she needed after all but at least they’d have a fighting chance against the spherical weapon. Would their gathered intelligence be enough to turn the tide of a battle? The aliens had time to study them as well.
This might come down to who did the best research. Of course, they can’t possibly anticipate we’ll be able to follow them. After all, they were convinced humanity would be a push over. They divided their force as a result. The audacity of sending a single ship might be intimidating… or it could be the single worst idea we’ve come up with.
Time would tell if Earth made the right call in pursuing the enemy and involving themselves in galactic affairs, such as they were. The enemy databases didn’t speak about other races out in space, other civilizations beyond their own. Perhaps if one of their ship’s computers would’ve survived, more comprehensive data would’ve been available.
As such, they had to learn a few things on their own. Cassie believed the Gnosis was ready for such an adventure. Now they simply had to survive it to benefit from the spoils.
Chapter 6
Desmond returned to the bridge when they were about to emerge from hyperspace. The calculation suggested thirty minutes and he needed some time to address the crew and prepare. Pilots boarded their fighters and bombers, marines filed down to the shuttles and the Gnosis felt on the verge of bursting from barely contained adrenaline.
Zach relieved Deacon, the last of the primary bridge crew to take his seat. Those with the most experience took their posts and each department head sounded off their readiness. Desmond noted they were green across the board. When they arrived, all units would be as prepared for combat as possible.
Desmond received the report from Nathaniel that they were unable to make significant modifications to the shields. This was not unexpected news but it did disappoint him. The information went on to state that Cassandra may have found a way to disrupt the spherical attack. There was no indication she’d succeeded yet.
“Agent Alexander,” Desmond said.“Nathaniel stated you were working on some kind of app to jam an enemy attack. Have you had any luck?”
“I wrote an application and tested it against their security protocols. Hardened systems will be a challenge but I’m confident I can at least delay their special weapon long enough for us to gain some distance.” Cassie paused.“I just finished another simulation. If I can get more experience with some of their active defenses, I’ll be able to improve this significantly.”
“Excellent.” Desmond glanced at the chronometer. They had ten minutes to go. Butterflies hit his stomach but he was able to quell them with a deep breath. When he left his quarters and headed to the bridge, he felt the tension building in the ship. He didn’t sense fear per se but more anticipation. They wanted to get into the action.
Ten hours was a long time to think about a fight.
Desmond spent the next few moments going through minor reports, issues that didn’t demand immediate attention. After the third one, Zach called out that they had two minutes before emerging. He turned the screen to tactical in preparation for what was to come. The countdown began at thirty seconds and when he reached zero, the main screen changed to a frontal view.
The ship shuddered for a moment, shaking from the re-entry into real space. Lights flickered then remained steady. Zach’s hands flew over his controls and as he applied retro thrusters, Desmond felt a hint of pressure as the inertial dampeners fought to keep up with the suddenness of their motion.
“Checking position,” Salina announced.“We have arrived within ten-thousand kilometers of our intended coordinates.”
“Fantastic job, everyone,” Desmond said.“That’s pretty damn impressive. Now, to the business at hand. System scan?”
Salina hummed.“The system rebooted when we came out of hyperspace. It’s almost back up but that’s… odd.”
“Wait,” Cassie jumped in.“Oh, I see what happened. When the lights flickered, we experienced a power surge. Several systems have been rebooted. I can work with engineering right now to find out if there’s a short in the relay… If you don’t mind.”
Desmond nodded.“Please do. Let’s get a quick diagnostic on all essential systems. If something happened on that re-entry, we want to know before we need those things. Vincent, have the pilots ready to launch at a moment’s notice. Make every moment count, people. They don’t have the disadvantage of a reboot so if they’re out there, they know we’re here by now.”
Desmond stood and joined Salina at her station, watching the progress meter fill as the system came back online. He wondered if there was simply a glitch or if the distance itself had something to do with it. There was no precedent to base an opinion on, only simulation data and two short trips.
The after-action briefings would involve a lot of questions.
Salina began tapping at her console the moment the system came back online and put her findings on the main screen. Desmond turned to look at the data. Eight planets surrounded a star much like Sol. Hard and fast scans showed the fourth planet was the closest to Earth standards with only slightly lighter gravity and an identical oxygen content.
We’ve talked about the Goldilocks planet before but I never thought we’d find one on our first trip out. Of course, I have to give the aliens the credit in this case. We’re merely following them, not discovering on our own.
“Multiple ships discovered,” Salina said. She motioned for Cassie to join her.“Look at those. There are five of the alien ships, we expected those but what about these? I don’t even know what to call them but they’re definitely inorganic. What do you make of them?”
“Different types of aliens,” Cassie replied.“The inhabitants of the planet they’re invading perhaps. They… seem to be in conflict.”
“Maybe we can get them on the com and tell them we’re here to help,” Desmond suggested.“Hail them.”
“I’m afraid they’re unmanned, sir.” Salina tapped at her console and nodded.“Yes, they are definitely unmanned and are coming from that larger, dome like structure orbiting the planet. It’s some kind of defensive platform sending out these drones. No life forms in there either. It’s totally automated.”
“Great.” Desmond sighed.“Means they won’t be friendly to us either. How big are the drones?”
Salina replied,“Small. They appear to be fighter size. In fact, that’s what the enemy is using to fight them but… they must’ve been at this for a while. There’s debris in orbit… The alien ships.”
“Estimated number?” Desmond asked.
“More than five,” Cassie answered.“But there’s plenty of debris from the indigenous technology as well. I’d be willing to guess there were a lot more of those orbital defenses before and now they’re down to two.”
Salina added,“Surface scans show a smaller scout vessel landed and a contingency of alien ground forces are converging on a structure but the
re is weapon’s fire. I’m not sure what they’re fighting. There’s life on the surface but it isn’t like Earth. No large congregations that would indicate cities. Just structures. Abandoned…” She turned to Desmond.“Or dead.”
Desmond rubbed his chin and turned to his own screen, checking the diagnostic reports. They indicated all systems were operational. Cassie and Nathaniel had another test running, checking what might’ve caused the short but they hadn’t found it yet. They didn’t have time to thoroughly investigate everything before jumping into action.
“Zach, get us closer.” Desmond sat down.“Vincent, when we’re within range, launch all fighters. Raptor’s on escort. Get the marines down to the ground and prevent the enemy from doing whatever they’re doing. Tell them to be prepared for a serious fight… possibly from two groups.”
Affirmatives rang through the bridge and the ship’s thrusters ignited. Shields were raised and weapons powered on. As they advanced, they received additional information about the conflict raging ahead of them. The indigenous defense platforms showed massive energy readings. Powerful shields protected them but something else happened inside.
Salina’s deep scan of the structure showed the vast majority of it was dedicated to manufacturing the drones. The entire thing was automated, leaving only enough room for a reactor which generated an enormous amount of energy, especially considering it was solar powered.
The efficiency of the platform was incredible as each subsection built a piece of the drones, churning them out quickly enough to constantly reinforce their numbers. As a result, it would’ve been very difficult to gain a beachhead in the planet’s orbit and further explained why the aliens lost vessels and hadn’t achieved their own objectives yet.
They may have only gotten this far because they studied their adversaries like us. Every moment of delay they had gave us time to arrive and intervene.
“Try to get the aliens on com,” Desmond said.“Maybe we can make this exchange peaceful.”
